But he is still seeking answers “to who and what caused” his daughter’s death.

“I am pleased with the outcome of today’s court proceedings,” he told the magazine in a statement. “All I ever wanted was answers relating to who and what caused my daughter’s death. Today’s judgment tells me it was Nick Gordon. Now I need to process all the emotions I have and lean on God to get me and my family through this.”

Fulton County Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford ruled Friday that “Gordon admits to the wrongful death allegations by not being present at the hearings and as a result, anything alleged by the plaintiff is admitted through omission,” the magazine writes. The judge will now determine what the financial penalty will be for Brown.

According to Brown’s estate attorney, R. David Ware, who addressed reporters outside of the Atlanta courthouse, the battle is however only half won, reports PEOPLE: “In court today, we finally finished a long journey for justice for Bobbi Kristina Brown. The court agrees with us, by striking Mr. Gordon’s answer that he is legally responsible for her death. The only thing left to prove is the value of her life. We intend to do that.”

Bobbi Kristina, the daughter of Brown and Whitney Houston, died in June 2015 at the age of 22, nearly five months after she was found unresponsive in a bathtub at her townhouse in Atlanta, Georgia.

Gordon, who has vehemently denied any involvement in her death, has not been criminally charged. He is at the center of the Browns’ wrongful death civil lawsuit that seeks a reported $50 million in damages.